Short Story Competition Winner

Congratulations to our competition winner Brenda Scott, who was won our Question of Guilt short story competition.

Here is the winning entry, it relates to “The Sleeping Print Worker” by Alex Graham from Frances Fyfield’s art collection.

I like to have a nap after we’ve put the first edition to bed. It wasn’t too hard today and we had a bit of a laugh with the new apprentice setter. You can tell if they’ve got the aptitude straight away. Some of them just can’t get the hang of mirror images. If the journalist writes

Mary had a little lamp

Then that’s what you have to set. It tests whether they get the p or b right. Then there’s the spacing.

Its fleece was white ass now.

That’s more difficult if the little Printer’s Devil has crept in and very often we don’t spot those until we get the proof. Then we might have cross words. Haha, they’re much more difficult to set. After a few years, you can set so quickly, you can read all the articles, backwards of course, and solve all the crossword clues while you’re working. There was a good one today:

A Scottish smoker with backbone found at local beauty spot (4,5)

If we have a bit of time, sometimes we ask each other the clues but the machinery’s so noisy we have to communicate with sign language. The one who solves most clues has to make the tea. That command’s easy, lift an imaginary mug to your lips and look pointedly at the designated maker –
cheers!

Kill the widow. That’s what we say when we’ve got a word just hanging over the end of a line or paragraph like that. I had an argument with the FOC one day about it because he said it was an orphan not a widow. FOC? No, not free of charge but

Father of the Chapel

We always give him a special font.

The Cartoonist was late today, said he’d broken his pencil, haha, how many times have I heard that one? We left the blank and set round it, it’s easily fitted in afterwards.

I can feel my eyes drooping now………………….

*****

“Bob!”

“Bob!”

What? What’s happening?

“Bob! Wake up! We’re running a special! There’s been a Murder at the Museum!”